Wizardry: Labyrinth Of Lost Souls coming stateside (ESRB leak?)

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We heard Acquire was trying to license Wizardry: Labyrinth of the Lost Souls late last year. And now they found a North American publisher for their downloadable PlayStation 3 dungeon crawler.



Xseed is bringing Wizardry: Labyrinth of the Lost Souls overseas. The ESRB leaked the news when they described the game’s wine collecting quest.



This is a role-playing game in which players explore maze-like environments and battle fantastical enemies. Players traverse through dungeons and enter into turn-based battles with ghosts, demons, goblins, and zombies—depicted in still images. Players select attacks/spells from a menu screen to use in random attacks against enemies that disappear when defeated. Some enemies are depicted with bloodstained swords or wounds that expose small amounts of red flesh. Players can also access a gallery mode that includes a few partially nude characters (e.g., creatures with exposed buttocks or hair barely covering breasts). One quest prompts players to search for sacramental wine; a reward is offered for every bottle collected. The words ‘a*s’ and ‘bastard’ appear in the dialogue.



In Japan, Wizardry: Labyrinth of the Lost Souls was originally released for PlayStaton Network. Recently, Acquire packaged it and the sequel, Wizardry: Town of the Imprisoned Spirits, on a Blu-ray disc. More screenshots of that title are in this post. While Town of the Imprisoned Spirits has not been announced for an overseas release, Acquire was searching for a publisher at Game Developer’s Conference last month.
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http://www.siliconera.com/2011/03/20/wizardry-labyrinth-of-lost-souls-leaving-japan-thanks-to-xseed/

I played the demos in Japan, so I'm glad to hear the news. More RPGs are always great to have. I wish they'd bring over the PS3 Class of Heroes games.
 
Wow, really? Wizardry! I remember my Wizardry days, carefully mapping the dungeon levels out on graph paper. All good RPG geeks had graph paper in those days.

Wizardry was certainly an iconic series, and I do know it was majorly influential in Japan. The screens look very nice! I will definately pick this one up. Thanks OP!
 
Any connection to Wizardry game on the PS2? I loved that game and this looks like a must buy.

Article isn't very clear if XSeed is bring this to PSN or Blu-Ray.
 
[quote name='laaj']Any connection to Wizardry game on the PS2? I loved that game and this looks like a must buy.

Article isn't very clear if XSeed is bring this to PSN or Blu-Ray.[/QUOTE]

This is a different Wizardry than the one Atlus brought over. This game was a PSN release on Japan so I assume we will get it on PSN.
 
The only concern I have is how much interest there will be in these titles (there are two on the JPN PSN, if I remember correctly) and unless you're into hardcore old school dungeon crawling in a first person perspective (ala Dragon Quest 1 and other old US RPGs) then the interest in a title like this will be pretty slim. (other than the people who grew up playing these)

More power to 'em for bringing them over, but I just think they're going to have a very minimal impact level and very low interest in from people outside of specialists or fans of that specific niche of the genre.
 
[quote name='uncle5555']The only concern I have is how much interest there will be in these titles (there are two on the JPN PSN, if I remember correctly) and unless you're into hardcore old school dungeon crawling in a first person perspective (ala Dragon Quest 1 and other old US RPGs) then the interest in a title like this will be pretty slim. (other than the people who grew up playing these)

More power to 'em for bringing them over, but I just think they're going to have a very minimal impact level and very low interest in from people outside of specialists or fans of that specific niche of the genre.[/QUOTE]

I don't see the problem as long as they budget the game accordingly. Developer or publisher has to crazy to think games like this will sell a ton. Xseed is perfect for this since they know that their games won't ever make the bestseller list.
 
i am probably down. came in here due to recognizing wizardry and will stay due to the content! Lets see the price and I am ready to play.
 
[quote name='laaj']I don't see the problem as long as they budget the game accordingly. Developer or publisher has to crazy to think games like this will sell a ton. Xseed is perfect for this since they know that their games won't ever make the bestseller list.[/QUOTE]

And I agree with that assessment, it just seems strange that they would take a game that has a long history but very limited appeal and would spend time / resources on it in favor of something else more profitable.

More power to 'em and the people who enjoy these games. ;)
 
[quote name='uncle5555']And I agree with that assessment, it just seems strange that they would take a game that has a long history but very limited appeal and would spend time / resources on it in favor of something else more profitable.

[/QUOTE]


Ummm, because the Japanese have a fondness for Wizardry, and nostalgia?

Remember Etrian Oddysey? Yea, made a few yen there, and a few bucks here. I imagine they believe there are enough RPG enthusiasts and old school gamers to support their enterprise. I for one will be there day of release, and I have a feeling there are quite a few of us.
 
[quote name='venturin']Ummm, because the Japanese have a fondness for Wizardry, and nostalgia?

Remember Etrian Oddysey? Yea, made a few yen there, and a few bucks here. I imagine they believe there are enough RPG enthusiasts and old school gamers to support their enterprise. I for one will be there day of release, and I have a feeling there are quite a few of us.[/QUOTE]

Glad you should say that since I didn't want to be uninformed on my comments I spent over two hours looking up the games themselves, the Wizardry fan base and just exactly how popular the games are at most gaming sites (everywhere from Siliconera to NeoGaF and even yes, Gamefaqs)

And basically I confirmed the notion I had before, passionate fans, but mostly I found either people nostalgic of what came before or people pining for old school super niche product is the general consensus I found.

These quotes sums up nicely what the general take on this: (these are from fans of the series, and taken from the NeoGaF thread, I read)

early candidate for least likely-but-still-came-true localization of the year
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Aksys ("Jikandia"), Nippon Ichi ("Neptunia") and XSeed (Wizardry) are going to fight to the death over this title.

No, seriously, they will die from localizing amazing games that no one buys.
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And honestly that's all I'm saying, I find it hard to believe they'd take a chance on this title, but then again they did Retro Game Challenge, and lost heaps too, so I'm not one to condemn them for being adventurous and taking risks.

You mention JPN, Wizardry is almost as old over there as it is here, the JPN versions (spinoffs and localizations of the US games) have been coming out since the 80's, so its more like FF, DQ, and SMT when it comes to devotion for JPN players more than anything else, they've basically have created their own version of the franchise separate from the old Sir-Tech games.

And again I bring up the research I did last night, there were heapin' helpings of nostalgia all over the place, and I don't have an issue with that, I don't want anyone to think I'm attacking this game or its supporters, my only curiosity (which might come off as harsh sounding) if anything is how the US marketplace will react to these titles.

Will it be able to reach beyond old school fans, nostalgic players, and people who must play every RPG regardless?

The answer I'm seeing so far is no (and those two quotes sum up the general feeling I've been seeing) If you didn't start playing these on computers back in the day, or the SNES ports, or even the PS2 version (which if correct, Atlus only put out 40,000 copies of the game, which not many people bought) so I don't see a ground swell of interest.

So I'm not trying to anger any fans that are reading this thread, only expressing my curious nature as to how successful this will be, I might be surprised and it might be a underdog and Xseed will come out with a cult hit that exceeds (no pun intended) expectations, but based on what I've seen and read (about the games, fan support, etc) its a mighty big long shot indeed.
 
I understand what you are saying, and your points are certainly valid.

I hope Wizardry finds an audience big enough to result in future titles coming to America.

Many people were very pessimistic about Etrian Oddysey's chances in America, (an old school RPG where the player was required to map the dungeon, very old school!) but it apparently did well enough to warrant two sequels. I was very happy that there was still such interest in "hardcore" RPG's.

Releasing on PSN means there is less financial risk for developers than creating physical media like on the DS.

I look forward to seeing if the rebooting of "ancient" RPG styles gains ground in the 21st century.
 
[quote name='uncle5555']

So I'm not trying to anger any fans that are reading this thread, only expressing my curious nature as to how successful this will be, I might be surprised and it might be a underdog and Xseed will come out with a cult hit that exceeds (no pun intended) expectations, but based on what I've seen and read (about the games, fan support, etc) its a mighty big long shot indeed.[/QUOTE]



Look no further then say Dark Spire.. The difference here is probably that this is a digital copy so less cost I imagine. For me if they drop it at say $10 its immediate. Over that I will research a little first to see reviews, etc.

thats just my initial thoughts on zero research. That could change once I hear and learn more about this release..
 
Great point but this is why they are going with DLC. That way they won't be stuck with any unsold copies
 
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